


Good Game

by Artistic_Alex



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Limbs, Other, Soccer, Spoilers, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 14:17:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artistic_Alex/pseuds/Artistic_Alex
Summary: He upset her.He didn’t mean to obviously, he wanted to do something fun, have a chance to play a game with Clementine. After over hearing Aasim and Violet talk about sports he’s been so excited to try them. He would casually toss a frisbee for Rosie, maybe toss a bouncy ball around with Louis, bounce a beach ball from bunk to bunk with Clem, but it wasn’t until he was given a small white and black checkered ball that he finally decided to ask how to play a proper game.But no one told him how to play, it was just another toy he was given, no one even offered to join him, leaving him to figure out it’s purpose on his own.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Good Game

He upset her.

He didn’t mean to obviously, he wanted to do something fun, have a chance to play a game with Clementine. After over hearing Aasim and Violet talk about sports he’s been so excited to try them. He would casually toss a frisbee for Rosie, maybe toss a bouncy ball around with Louis, bounce a beach ball from bunk to bunk with Clem, but it wasn’t until he was given a small white and black checkered ball that he finally decided to ask how to play a proper game.

But no one told him how to play, it was just another toy he was given, no one even offered to join him, leaving him to figure out it’s purpose on his own.

It didn’t really bounce, felt too weird to throw, and it wasn’t fun to just kick it around by itself, definitely meant for more than one person. How do you play with it, do you bounce it off the wall and catch it like a beach ball? Do you toss it back and forth like a baseball? Could Clem play with him? Simple questions.

Now Clem wasn’t talking to him, choosing to spend the rest of the day in their room for reasons she didn’t explain to the child.

It wasn’t fair that he doesn’t know why she’s upset. He doesn’t want to bother her but they’re supposed to tell each other everything, right? So why’d she just walk away and lock the door to the room they shared without a reason why? Why was she so mad?

“Hey little man, you doing alright?” Violet asks, walking up behind the boy who hesitantly held the ball in his hands, turning it gently.

“Whatcha got there?” She leans to the side and smiles. “Ah, playing with the ball we found, huh? You soccer kids are weird. I was a little league baseball person myself.” She kneels down. “Did Clem ever teach you how to play?”

AJ lets out a shaky sigh and drops the ball to the dirt, crossing his arms in a pout.

“I… I wanted her to show me, since I don’t know how, but she’s really sad now, and- I just, I don’t know why…”

Violet shoved her hands into her pockets and stand back up, slightly crooking her back in an award stretch.

“She’s probably upset because she can’t… Soccer is running and kicking, AJ.”

AJs face fell further. No wonder she was upset, he asked her to do something she was basically incapable of doing, it probably hurt her feelings knowing she couldn’t teach him this kind of stuff like she did before.

AJ scowls and kicks the ball as hard as he can away from himself.

He really felt like a jerk.

“Hey, it’s alright. You didn’t know that. To you, it was just another game of catch and throw, just with a different design. I’m sure she’s not upset at you.” Violet says cooly. 

“She’s probably really mad at me.”

Violet just smirks and shakes her head. 

“For someone who’s known Clem the longest you don’t really seem to know her at all, huh?” AJ frowns. What was that supposed to mean? It was kind of rude, actually.

“Clem isn’t mad. She’s still getting used to having one leg. There’s a lot of disadvantages that come with it. She might just need someone to talk to her right now.” Violet says, shifting her eyes to the entry. “Maybe you can try and make her feel better.”

He pouts his lip in thought before biting it into his mouth. 

She’s right. Maybe once he explains his bird of a brain, (birdbrain? What was it Louis wrote that one time?) she’ll forgive him and they can play on the swing instead.

“I think I will, thanks, Vi.”

She waves him off.

“No problem little dude. Make sure you tell her we’ll be having dinner soon too, okay? You know know how Omar is.” 

He smiles knowingly as he looks back down to the ball in his hands.

He’d figure this out.

  
  


*****

Clem was asleep when he attempted to enter the room, the door now unlocked. She laid curled up, Rosie stretched out on the end of the bed, her head resting upon Clem’s leg. She’s snoring quite loudly, surprising the dog hasn’t woke her up. Maybe she just got used to it? He knows he couldn’t.

Should he wait until she wakes up? He didn’t want to bother her, especially if she was tired and-

“I can hear you kiddo. Whatcha need?” She asks, sitting up.

Rosie fusses slightly before changing positions and returning to sleep.

“Oh… Um…” he hesitated before sitting on the bed. “You okay, kiddo? You seem like you have a million thoughts a minute going through that little fro of yours.” She says with a smirk. AJ immediately feels his head and runs a hand (barely, and not even at all) through his thick, curly hair.

“I’m okay… Are you?”

She smiles, (fake, AJ hated when she lied to protect him,) “I’m okay, kiddo. Just a bit tired from scavenging today.” 

“You’re lying.” He says suddenly. “You promised you wouldn’t lie to me, Clem.” He pouts slightly. “You promised.”

“I-“ she hesitates. “I used to play soccer as a kid…”

AJ takes a moment to hop up onto her bed. 

“And it just reminded me of before… You’d think things from before wouldn’t hurt me anymore but they do.”

“But… Violet said it was because…” His eyes drift to her leg, where Clem quickly catches on.

“That too…”

AJ stayed silent, his eyes sad as he feels regret for his sudden confrontation to his practical mother.

“Hey, don’t be down on yourself, AJ. It’s okay. You didn’t know.” 

“But I  _ did. _ Now I hurt your feelings.” He stands up from the bed, rubbing his hands together in a nervous habit as he faces her. “I didn’t mean to. I swear Clem. I just wanted you to play a game with me. That’s all. But then I messed up again.” 

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “You didn’t mess up, kiddo. You’re still learning how to react to… this,” she gestured to her leg, “and it’s hard. It’s hard for me, too.”

AJ still pouts, caught in self pity, causing Clem to stand and use her crutches to move to him.

“Tell you what. I have an idea that’ll make you feel better.” 

“What’s that?”

*****

Clem continues to drag a long him on the dirt with her other crutch, the dirt field easily moldable.

“Can you tell me what we’re doing now?” AJ asks, slightly impatient.

“We…” she leads, finishing off, “are playing soccer.” 

A ball is then thrown from her hands and onto the dirt, it leaves a small cloud of dust as it connects to the soft ground.

“Oh!” He exclaims, before his face quickly drops, “what about your leg?”

“What about it?” 

“Won’t it be hard?” 

“Are you saying you’re gonna go easy on me?”

“No?”

“Good. Because I’m a soccer master. I could be missing both legs and an arm and bet everyone!”

“Okay… Then prove it!”

Clem smiles at his happier attitude, moving herself over to the ball and hitting it slightly with her crutch.

“Okay. The rules.” She peers past AJ. 

“Uh, always look for a way out, always aim for the head-“

“Not those ones. The game.”

He looks embarrassed down at his shoes. “Oh.”

“So. That goal-“ She says, pointing to the one behind her, “is yours. And that goal is mine.”

“Okay.” 

“Now. What you have to do is get it in your goal without touching the ball with your hands or getting it out of bounds, which is…” she points to a stick in the distance, “there.”

“Okay. That sounds easy.”

“You ready?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Go!”

Clem immediately moves forward, using the crutches to move the ball in a path to the goal, AJ, trails behind, nervous about hurting Clem. 

Clem shoots it into the goal easily.

“Alvin Junior I raised you to be a winner. Don’t go easy on me!”

AJ retrieves the ball from past the goal returning it to the center.

“Okay, go!”

AJ now takes the ball and maneuvers his way around Clem. Just before he can get it into the goal, Clem takes it and moves it towards her own at a quick pace. She makes it in before he can retrieve it.

“Ahha! Score!” She exclaims.

“I was just going easy on you!” 

Clem smiles. “Okay. Prove it.”

AJ sets the ball in the center, preparing for another game.

“Alright, go!” 

Clem goes for the ball at the same time as AJ, causing them both to fall, causing Clem to laugh, which AJ mistakes for crying.

“Oh gosh, Clem I’m so sorry!”

“No, I’m okay, it’s just funny-“

“What is?” 

“Why I hated soccer. It’s a bunch of people pretending to be hurt.” 

She continues to laugh and AJ eventually joins in.

*****

They play for an hour. Tying in the game, they’re both happy. 

“Dinner!” Omar calls out.

“Guess it’s time to head back kiddo.” 

“Awwh. But I was having fun!”

“We can play more after dinner.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

They both head to dinner, hungry as hell as they devour everything, eventually heading back out to play more.

AJ learned a new game, having fun doing so, and Clem. Well, she learned that maybe soccer wasn’t so bad after all.

  
  



End file.
